LAOTIAN SEES TRUCE BY END OF OCTOBER

PARIS, Oct. 23 (UPI) — The Laotian Premier, Prince Souvanna Phouma, said today that he expected an Indochina ceasefire to be announced before the end of the month, but that a full peace settlement would come later.

“It's difficult to say when actual peace will come because I haven't got all the elements of appreciation,” Prince Souvanna said, speaking in quiet, well‐weighed words with a small group of journalists.

“The sooner will be the better,” he said. “But a cease‐fire will come inevitably, I think before the end of the month.”

Prince Souvanna said that a settlement would take longer to work out than an armistice because of the tangled situation, which is different in Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam.

The Laotian leader added that he expected a general accord to lead to a repeat of the conditions of 1961 and 1962, when there was cooperation between his neutral Cabinet and the Communist Pathet Lao, headed by his half‐brother, Prince Souphanouvong.

Prince Souvanna said he did not believe that there would be a big‐power guarantee of any settlement. “No one proved capable of guaranteeing the 1962 Laotian neutrality accord, since Laos was invaded by the North Vietnamese,” he recalled.

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A version of this archives appears in print on October 24, 1972, on Page 90 of the New York edition with the headline: LAOTIAN SEES TRUCE BY END OF OCTOBER. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe